All good things come to an end...

earth tube @ erc

I can't believe that 3 months have already passed since I started this blog. 2 more weeks and my internship at the Greater Toronto Chapter is ovah! I'm sad really, to say goodbye to our Vitamin D deficient workspace, our neighbors and friends at Engineering Link and MCW, and most of all, to Lyle & Claudia, who have truly made the internship experience a wonderful learning adventure. July is turning out to be a busy month- we had our Chapter meeting/BBQ at the beautiful Earth Ranger Centre (which I'm sure you're all very familiar with by now- I can't get enough of that place!), and last week held a Green Building Tour of the Enwave plant and the Telus Tower. Lyle also graciously invited us over to his beautiful home in the Beaches, where he and his wife, Sima, cooked up the most delicious pork & apple burgers. Working at the Council has been such a great learning experience, both on a professional and personal level. And, it's given me a better sense of what working life is like in Toronto! I am so deeply grateful for all the support and encouragement from the board, staff, and members, and look forward to staying in touch with everyone. Shout out to Marcus who has been my fellow intern at the Council. Onward & upward, friends!

working in a forest

green roof meets forest meets mcmansions in the background

so there is a lot of claim about how green buildings help improve employee productivity and efficiency, but not a lot of empirical data to back this up- so for my final research paper for the worldGBC internship, i've decided to investigate employee work experience in a LEED-rated green building. after a fantastic initial visit to the Kortright Centre earlier in the summer, i selected the Earth Rangers Centre as the focus of my paper- the site is a truly unique example of a LEED-Gold building in Toronto and situated in the middle of a forest! thanks to John & Andy (woot! a former Schuligan), i had the privilege and pleasure of spending the entire day at ERC and was lucky enough to get access to the all the nitty gritty details of the building, as well as meeting and interviewing a number of staff members.

 

solar arrays in the parking lot

my grill room: where interviews took place

the other GBC in my life....

when i'm not working at the Green Building Council, i'm busy with 2 summer classes @ schulich and serving on the executive team of the Graduate Business Council, the other GBC in my life. this leaves little time for taking advantage of the TO-summertime-festivities (patios, anyone?) but i've managed to get in some uniquely canadian experiences.

about 2 weeks ago, we headed up north to Marshall's (best friend extraordinaire/GBC athletics guru) family cottage for a GBC executive work retreat. now, in the States, we don't have "cottages" - instead there are Tahoe cabins and summer shares/houses in the Hamptons. i couldn't help but picture a quaint little log cottage decked out in Laura Ashley florals, complete with questionable water source, and an outhouse in the back. but, i was wrong! it was a lovely blue house (fitting for the Blue clan), massive enough to fit 11 of us and equipped with the key features necessary to make a retreat: bbq, ping pong table for beer pong and flip cup tournaments, a yard big enough to play some German beer game (pictured), and of course, the splendid lake just across the street. After a hard day of work, the ladies headed to the lake - even though it was so foggy that you couldn't see where the lake fog ended and lake began - it was as serene as ever, and a much needed escape.

Am I back back in Cali Cali?

The USA win and G20 madness has been eclipsed by the EARTHQUAKE THAT JUST HAPPENED HERE IN TORONTO. What is going on here!??! As I sat here watching the entire building rumble, I quickly dismissed the realization that an earthquake was happening- after all, this isn't California! Several thoughts floated through my head "G20 stuff" "maybe a soccer goal, overzealous watchers on the floor above" "bomb"? A quick Google search found nothing and I consulted the next best thing- Facebook. Sure enough, status updates informed me that indeed what I experienced was a 5.5 earthquake. (Ah, the power of social networking!). Interestingly, no one in the office hid under the desk or stood in the frame of the doorway, as we had all earnestly learned to do growing up in California. Makes me wonder how we would react/behave if something more disastrous had occurred.

15 seconds of ffffame

There is non-stop excitement here at the Toronto office! CBC, Canada's broadcasting channel, caught wind of the 47 inch TV that MCW installed in the office for the World Cup and decided to come over to film us watching the Brazil vs. N. Korea game. Claudia, program manager for the GBC, is originally from Brazil, and got some face time (along with a strategically placed desktop photo of her and her dog, Lucy, donning matching Brazilian jerseys). Marcus and I also got filmed doing some 'work'- surely to show up in some future stock video clips. Keep your eyes peeled for the GBC Toronto team on CBC tomorrow!

toronto. culture.

so i was lamenting to marcus about how everyone else's blog is so much more culturally interesting than mine- with trips to glorious beaches, and meetings with high ranking country officials, and visits to the hospital...but then i realized that right in front of me was an everyday experience that i was taking for granted: the PATH. for folks who may not be familiar, PATH is downtown toronto's walkway that spans 28km and is filled with restaurants, shops, etc. it's basically a massive maze of a mall, all underground. this confused me at first because in NYC, PATH referred to a train line to New Jersey...when i first saw PATH here, i was wondering why there were so many signs for it, everywhere. but now, i've come to love and rely on the PATH for all my lunch eating needs...plus, i'm taking a course at the miles nadal centre @ the ernst & young tower, which, you guessed it, can be accessed by PATH! amazing.

the other interesting work development is that the folks which kindly sponsor office space for the Council have World Cup FEVER! yesterday, they brought in a 47inch flat screen TV in anticipation of the first game. like many stereotypical americans, i'm not much of a soccer fan (well...not much of a TV sports-watching fan in general) but now that there's TV in the office, i might just become one!

Why Design Now? & Enlightenment.

A few friends and I took an epically long road trip to New York over the May 24 weekend and I was able to catch the much-lauded National Design Triennial- Why Design Now? (which follows the earlier Design for the Other 90% exhibit, equally cool: http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/) at the Cooper Hewitt Museum. Highlights of the exhibit included: spanish tile solar panels, the Viet Village urban farm project in New Orleans, and of course- the One Laptop Per Child project. Design and designers are playing a unique role in addressing the social and environmental issues of today. And this is especially apparent in the green building industry, which is rapidly changing market dynamics through the influence of policy and consumer behavior.

On a more personal note, it's interesting that I find myself back into the design/building world again since I last dabbled as an architecture student years ago in undergrad. When I decided to get an MBA in Sustainability, I wasn't quite sure where, what, and how that would look like. I'm pleasantly surprised that my journey into the socially/environmentally responsible business world has brought me to a place where my personal and professional interests are converging.

the dutch are calling...

this is real and not a figment of my imagination.
not related to CaGBC, but...definitely, literally, green (more evidence that I belong in the Netherlands)

more photos : http://www.dezeen.com/2010/05/17/inntel-hotel-by-wam-architecten/

the changing definition of beauty

Thinking Green: Function Over Form

By HOLLAND COTTER

Published: May 13, 2010

“Why Design Now?” the new edition of the Cooper-Hewitt’s National Design Triennial, is the most ecology-conscious yet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/arts/design/14design.html

Team Field Trip!

Team GTA-GBC is awesome! Lyle worked some magic and organized an all-day outing to see some of actual LEED Platinum & Gold buildings in real life. We spent an amazing and exhilarating Friday getting exclusive tours of Toronto's hidden green gems set in the backdrop of the Humber Valley and acres and acres of green trees, butterflies, and birds. We visited the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) Restoration Services LEED Platinum building, The Kortright Center: EarthRangers (site of the World Green Building Council office), and the Archetype Houses. After the whirl-wind of activities in the last 2 weeks with meeting all the who's who and learning the what's what of the building industry, it was really rewarding to finally get to see how a LEED certified building in action. While at Earth Rangers, we ran into Nicole & Dominick from the World Green Building Council, and they joined us on a tour as well. The amazing part is that for an average consumer with little technical knowledge (like myself), the experience of working and living in a green building will probably be no different than any other type of building (although there is something to be said for having fresh air circulation and natural lighting). Of course, the main difference is behind the scenes- it's the smart, efficient, and savvy use of existing technologies that make green buildings resource efficient and healthier for the environment and soul. Why this hasn't been implemented on a large scale is a mystery to me- but, I'm hopeful that change is happening and orgs like the GBC are making it happen.

My camera died so no photos, but hopefully Marcus will post some. Some fun highlights of the trip:

• Composting toilets at TRCA Restoration Services!
• Solar photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the Archetype houses (w/ the Green Energy Act FIT, produces $4k annually!!! high cost upfront (~$50K) but simple payback in 10 years- Yay econ 6170!!!)
• Solar PV & wind turbine test sites at the Living City (so awesome!!!)
• Standing inside the groundspring air/fan converter machine thingy (j'amaze- my worse nightmare -claustrophobia, being entombed whilst alive, etc- but so awesome!!!)
• Solar PV arrays in the Earth Rangers parking lot
• A magnificent bald eagle in a bird cage at Earth Rangers (the symbol of American freedom, caged by Canada...oh the irony! :-))
• Recycled paper kitchen countertops in Archetype House!!!

Chapter Meeting Funtimes

Yesterday was the Toronto Chapter's monthly meeting featuring a special presentation from GBCI & CaGBC. The free event packed the room and gave me a better idea of the Chapter's member-base. I even ran into one of my Schulich classmates at the event! A good 100-150 folks showed up to learn more about the changes that are taking place with LEED certification in Canada.

The transition is complex- in short, there will now be specializations of LEED that you can test for- for example, LEED AP Neighborhood Development, and LEED AP New Construction, etc. You will also be required to test for LEED Green Associate designation, in order to become LEED certified. There are also backend transitions that are occurring, and important to know for Canadians in particular: not all LEED exams are currently available yet- so you have to travel to the States to get LEED certified at the moment. More information can be available at CaGBC.org.

Board Meets Board Event

Before I forget, a few photos from a pre-internship event that Lyle graciously invited us to. Located in the new LEED Gold RBC building. Photos courtesy of Marcus Chan.

Day 2

Second day of work and getting into the groove of things. The commute from York U is not as bad as I thought it would be- I leave campus at 8 and arrive downtown around 8:45am. Mondays & Tuesdays are going to be long days since I'm also doing the MBA part-time, which means 3 hour night courses after work- gets me home at 11pm! Lyle & Claudia have been so hospitable and great to us interns, and I'm happy to be working with Marcus too (he's sitting across from me as I type this!). The Toronto Chapter is in an exciting growth stage and there's a lot of work in store. Onward and upward! Until next time...